Lake Akan National Park

Lake Akan, or Akanko, was designated a national park and is located in eastern Hokkaido. The lake is believed to have been formed by volcanic activity, and is sandwiched between Oakandake and Meakandake.

Autumn leaves are very beautiful, and the lake is also known for natural monuments such as marimo (spherical moss) and Kokanee salmon. Marimo is a kind of green algae that grows in freshwater. Similar algae can be found in Northern Europe, Russia, and North America. Akanko's marimo are famous for their spherical shape.

While visiting Akanko you can hear strange sounds through the streets. They are made by the Ainu musical instrument called mukkuri. The tone is almost synonymous with Akanko. There is something called Ainu Kotan, which coexisted with Akan's nature a long time ago.

The Ainu are indigenous people in Hokkaido and its surrounding areas, and Kotan means village in Ainu. Their history is recorded in Akanko's resource center.

Feel a breeze in the lakeside walkaway and enjoy a view of the beautiful lake.

On the way there is a fence to protect skunk cabbage flowers and crickets.
Also, trees are covered with nets to keep deer from eating barks. There are many wild animals.
As you can fish in Akanko, many fishermen are spotted around the lake.
In the winter visitors can enjoy fishing surf smelts and riding a banana boat on the frozen surface of the lake.
A pleasure boat takes 1 hour 25 minutes to go around the lake while visitors can enjoy the landscape on the lake.

One of the tourist spots of Akanko is Bokke, which means boiling in Ainu. As the name indicates, it spews gas noisily and pushing the mud volcano. Here you can smell sulfur in the air and hear the heartbeat of the mother nature.

When you get tired from walking why don't you stop by Pan de Pan, the first bakery by the lake? You can enjoy tea with freshly baked bread. Also, you can find a cake with Bokke as a motif.

Also, there are foot baths around the lake, where you can refresh yourself.

In the winter, from January to March, fireworks are launched from the frozen lake for about 20 minutes starting from 8 pm, creating a different attraction from the summer.